fiberglass alternative?

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i need a strong cheap fiberglass alternative. yes i've read my stickies and heard about the hot glue method. but doing that for a hole suit is just not gonna work well. for my dr doom mask maybe but nothing more
 
Only other thing I can think of would be cardboard or the EVA foam a lot of people have been using. Fiberglass is about as cheap as you're gonna get unless you take one of those options I'm afraid. At least as far as I know. But someone else might know of something. Good luck!
 
fiberglass is the cheap method, if you dont want to use hotglue then your stuck with foam as cardboard still needs some form of backing to hold togethor properly
 
There is something that is an "alternative" for fiberglass that we use at work other than fiberglass resin itself. It is called the "West System". It is a 2 part epoxy that is similar to fiberglass resin. It is a marine product. But don't get it too thick with a fast hardener or it will crack while hardening. Also it gets VERY hot while catalyzing so only do it near things that aren't flammable. It also will smoke while hardening so look out for vapors.
 
grrr as long as your outside or in a well ventilated room the vapors are harmless, you can also get a respirator to make them feel good, fiberglass isnt all that bad if your smart about it
 
paper mache. tricky to use though, it makes major warpage if not careful. I personally love using it. It'll be easy once you get the hang of it.
 
vapors is exactly the reason my parents won't let me get it

Solvent-free epoxy doesn't emit a lot of vapours. However, that does not make it any safer ("no smell" isn't the same as "harmless"!). The dangers are just different and, at least in my opinion, it's harder to protect yourself against them.

How about just bringing your mom or dad in on this and letting them help you?

You can also use AquaResin, that's completely non-toxic. Still, don't eat it.

grrr as long as your outside or in a well ventilated room the vapors are harmless, you can also get a respirator to make them feel good, fiberglass isnt all that bad if your smart about it

The vapours are never harmless. Doing this outside is safer because they don't build up and may get blown away by the wind. But unless you're doing this in the middle of a storm, you will still breathe a lot of the vapours. Suggesting the use of resin without a respirator is not "smart", it's reckless.
 
Smooth Cast 320 is a good alternative. It's messy, a little expensive ($90 shipped for a gallon. Does a whole suit alright), but it's fast, light, not-as-toxic, and it yields a very smooth surface.
 
OK there is a cheap way out the Poly-acrylic it water based use it with Cotton cloth and will give you hard armor, I used this for many cheap projects. Just used an old blow dryer to speed up drying and watch out for warpage. you can find this at most hardware stores. Side note: the longer/older the piece sits the harder/ lighter it will get with this method. the helmet I did last summer only ways onces right now and is hard as a rock.
 
Someone did a whole project using smooth cast 321 instead of fiberglass resin due to its brush-able properties, however thats not exactly the cheap way to go. You might look at your local hobby lobby or other hobby store. They had some 2 part casting resins at our local hobby lobby for about the same price as picking up the fiberglass setup(about 28 oz), though it was not brush-able and you would just have to slush cast the inside of the pieces. Work time was extremely low making it somewhat difficult to work with. I think the brand was armalite.
 
I know this has nothing to do with a fiberglass alternative but apparently I have everything I need except the fiberglass. I was going through our tool box and found safety goggles and a respirator. I wtfed as soon as i saw it an. Also is spray paint toxic enough to where u need a respirator cuz if not then my parents or should I say my dad is too strict to let me use it while alone
 
You can try Mod Podge Hard Coat, your parents shouldn't mind it so much since it's water based. You'll need to apply several coats of it until you get the desired results. You can find these at your local hobby shop or craft store. Hope this helps until they allow you to use fiberglass.

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i have also heard that you can combine smoothcast 321&320, i think 320 is stronger but i'm not postive. I also heard to brush 321 on the outside and 320 on the inside or vice-versa. like i said i saw i'm not positive about the order but the product's do work. in the vid i watched a while back he said you can even do it indoors(workshop etc). http://www.smooth-on.com/ hope i helped a bit, also this stuff is brushable for the outside, and slushable in the inside

p.s always use proper safety precautions
 
Spray paint should be okay if you're outdoors just as long as you're not that close to it...or working that long with it (Don't want to be coughing colored spat, m'kay) Be sure to find some covers. Idk if your dad will freak when the garage floor is green (Mine would've freaked but I had some grey paint XP)

I recommend the Wood Glue method or Paper Mache (find some acrylic coating if you do this, helps with the waterproofing). Smoothcast or a variant from a local plastics supply store will work.

Not really good for precision but Great Stuff Expanding foam might be ok, it's $3 a can but it fills up from a dap to BIG. Someone else used StyroSpray, pretty darn solid from just a few coats, thinks it's $20 a trial kit (quart-size)

But you do have a respirator now so if your parents are still cool, buy some filters for it to be sure it's still working!
 
i have also heard that you can combine smoothcast 321&320, i think 320 is stronger but i'm not postive. I also heard to brush 321 on the outside and 320 on the inside or vice-versa. like i said i saw i'm not positive about the order but the product's do work. in the vid i watched a while back he said you can even do it indoors(workshop etc). http://www.smooth-on.com/ hope i helped a bit, also this stuff is brushable for the outside, and slushable in the inside

p.s always use proper safety precautions

You can use 321 in place of resin to seal the outside of the piece before slushing it with 320. However, I'd rather use resin, as it's a little cheaper than 321.
 
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